Yentob drawn into 'noddy shots' row

A senior BBC source has admitted that Alan Yentob, its creative director, has performed "noddy shots" on interviews that he did not personally conduct for his arts series Imagine.

Mr Yentob conducts many of the main interviews for the series, that most recently featured artists Gilbert & George and a profile of the singer Scott Walker. However, it is understood scenes featuring Mr Yentob reacting to some of the more peripheral figures and experts were edited to give the impression he was present.

The BBC declined to issue a statement last night but a senior source defended the practice, insisting that Mr Yentob was unable to attend every interview because of his workload. "Everybody does it - it is a universal technique," he said. "Does this change the meaning of what you are doing, and the answer is no it does not."

However, media commentator and public relations executive Mark Borkowski said the fact that a senior BBC manager had been found to undertake a practice that some people feel misleads the audience was significant.

The debate over "noddys" was given added impetus last week when Channel Five News editor David Kermode decided to ban what he called "rather hackneyed tricks" in his channel's bulletins.

The BBC is reluctant to follow Five's lead, with one senior news source describing Five's move as a "publicity stunt".